Electronic Motion-Sensing and Notification Adapter for Patient Room-Entry Sanitizer

ABSTRACT

A wall-mounted medical apparatus includes a dispenser configured to be actuated to dispense one or more of a soap and a sanitizer. One or more motion sensors detect the motion of a person entering into a patient room, and a controller determines whether actuation of the dispenser occurs within a predetermined time following the detected motion of a person entering into the room. If the actuation is determined not to have occurred within the predetermined period of time, then an alarm is activated.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to devices for use in medicalapplications and, in particular, relates to sanitizers for dispensingcleaning/ sanitizing fluids and related methods.

2. Description of Related Art

Much activity has existed in the prior art in the context of soap andsanitizing dispensing devices. Such devices have been fabricated formanual dispensing and/or with motion sensors for detecting, for example,movement made in connection with the activity of hand washing. Devicesin different or potentially analogous arts may have a capacity toactivate an alarm when a person moves near a facility. Documentsexemplifying sample activity but not necessarily representative activityin the prior art include U.S. Pat. No. 5,202,666, U.S. Pat. No.6,577,240, U.S. Patent Publication No. 20110234407, U.S. Pat. No.4,896,144, U.S. Pat. No. 5,670,945, U.S. Pat. No. 5,808,553, U.S. Pat.No. 5,952,924, U.S. Pat. No. 6,236,317, U.S. Pat. No. 6,975,231, U.S.Pat. No. 5,945,910, U.S. Pat. No. 6,375,038, U.S. Pat. No. 6,426,701,U.S. Pat. No. 7,551,092, U.S. Pat. No. 7,855,651, U.S. Pat. No.7,804,409, U.S. Pat. No. 7,898,407, U.S. Pate. No. 8,040,245, U.S. Pat.No. 8,154,412, U.S. Pat. No. 8,169,325, U.S. Patent Publication No.20060272361, U.S. Patent Publication No. 20110316703, and U.S. PatentPublication No. 20120062382. A need exists in the prior art forimprovement to the existing, limited applications.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention addresses these needs by providing arrangements,architectures and actuating methods that go beyond mere dispensersresponsive to motion or proximity sensors that activate dispensers. Oneaspect of the invention includes a wall-mounted medical apparatuscomprising a dispenser configured to be actuated to dispense one or moreof a soap and a sanitizer, one or more motion sensors to detect themotion of a person entering into a patient room, and a controller todetermine whether actuation of the dispenser has occurred within apredetermined time following the detected motion of a person enteringinto the room. If the actuation is determined not to have occurredwithin the predetermined period of time, an alarm is activated.

According to an aspect of the invention herein disclosed, a motionsensor detects motion and if the dispenser is not actuated within acertain time limit then activates an alarm.

While the apparatus and method has or will be described for the sake ofgrammatical fluidity with functional explanations, it is to be expresslyunderstood that the claims, unless indicated otherwise, are not to beconstrued as limited in any way by the construction of “means” or“steps” limitations, but are to be accorded the full scope of themeaning and equivalents of the definition provided by the claims underthe judicial doctrine of equivalents.

Any feature or combination of features described herein are includedwithin the scope of the present invention provided that the featuresincluded in any such combination are not mutually inconsistent as willbe apparent from the context, this specification, and the knowledge ofone skilled in the art. In addition, any feature or combination offeatures may be specifically excluded from any embodiment of the presentinvention. For purposes of summarizing the present invention, certainaspects, advantages and novel features of the present invention aredescribed. Of course, it is to be understood that not necessarily allsuch aspects, advantages or features will be embodied in any particularimplementation of the present invention. Additional advantages andaspects of the present invention are apparent in the following detaileddescription and claims that follow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1-3 illustrate an embodiment of the invention applied to a typicalroom for accommodating a patient or a room in need of an environmentwhich may benefit from a sterile characteristic or cleaned/sanitizedhands.

FIGS. 4-6 describe an implementation similar to that of FIGS. 1-3 but inthe context of another implementation of the invention in which anadapter is positioned nearby rather than on top of the sanitizer.

FIG. 7 depicts a flow of steps in which an alarm for the room entry wayis armed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Reference will now be made in detail to the presently preferredembodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in theaccompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same or similar referencenumbers are used in the drawings and the description to refer to thesame or like parts. It should be noted that the drawings are insimplified form and are not to precise scale. In reference to thedisclosure herein, for purposes of convenience and clarity only,directional terms, such as, top, bottom, left, right, up, down, over,above, below, beneath, rear, and front, are used with respect to theaccompanying drawings. Such directional terms should not be construed tolimit the scope of the invention in any manner.

Although the disclosure herein refers to certain illustratedembodiments, it is to be understood that these embodiments are presentedby way of example and not by way of limitation. The intent of thisdisclosure, while discussing exemplary embodiments, is that thefollowing detailed description be construed to cover all modifications,alternatives, and equivalents of the embodiments as may fall within thespirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. Itis to be understood and appreciated that the process steps andstructures described herein do not cover a complete process flows. Thepresent invention may be practiced in conjunction with varioustechniques that are conventionally used in the art, and only so much ofthe commonly practiced process steps are included herein as arenecessary to provide an understanding of the present invention.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, FIG. 1 illustrates atypical room for accommodating a patient or a room in need of anenvironment which may benefit from a sterile characteristic orcleaned/sanitized hands. At the entry way to the room is a handsanitizer 20 positioned (and, per one implementation of the invention,configured, e.g., programmed) for use (and, per an implementation of theinvention, configured, e.g., programmed, to monitor, encourage, and/orenforce use) prior to entry into the room and/or for use (and, per animplementation of the invention, configured, e.g., programmed, tomonitor, encourage, and/or enforce use) upon exit from the room.According to a preferred embodiment, the hand sanitizer is a patientroom-entry sanitizer positioned for use prior to entry into the room butnot upon exit from the room. The invention is directed to sensing auser's entry and/or exit from the room and, commensurately with that,sensing whether the user has activated the sanitizer to receivecleaning/ sanitizing fluid therefrom.

With reference to a general method of the invention for sensing theuser's entry and/or exit and also for sensing activation of thesanitizer, FIG. 7 depicts a flow of steps in which an alarm for the roomentry way is armed. The alarm can be a part of the sanitizer andcomprise, for example, a visual or audio alerting action when executed.In other embodiments, the alarm is not part of the sanitizer and isformed separately and/or positioned away from the sanitizer.

The method monitors a beam which crosses the entry way so that a user'sentry into the room will interrupt the beam thereby causing detection ofsame. The beam can be passive, such as with the B1 arrows pointinggenerally toward the sanitizer in many of the figures or can be activesuch as with the B1 arrows pointing generally away from the sanitizer inmany of the figures.

If the first beam is interrupted the method checks to see if aninterruption has occurred in a second beam B2 which generally crossesover or near to a surface of the sanitizer. The second beam can crossover a lower surface such as at the fluid emitting nozzle, and/or can beanywhere near that in other embodiments, and/or can be near a side ofthe sanitizer, and/or can even be over a top of the sanitizer, and/or asensor for detecting movement of the nozzle specifically (such as aninternal circuit coupled to detect movement of the nozzle) may beemployed. Hence, in some implementations such as with the “side”scenario, a user's hand moving from the side to under the nozzle wouldresult in a detection and/or a user's hand moving from the side but notunder the nozzle would result in a detection.

Upon a detection of an interruption of the second beam, the door alarmis disarmed for a predetermined period of time, such as five seconds,followed by a return of the method to the door-alarm arming step asindicated.

For so long as interruption of the second beam is not detected, however,the method can continue checking for detection of an interruption of thesecond beam for a predetermined period of time, such as 30 seconds, oralternatively the method may proceed, at once (e.g., within a second),with no further checking. In either scenario, the door alarm may remainon until, for instance, occurrence of an event pre-set to cause the dooralarm to be turned off. The event may be inputting of a resetinstruction or application of a power-off signal into the system usingany known technique and structure.

FIG. 2Ai is a first view from the orientation line A-A′ of FIG. 1, andFIG. 2Aii is a second view from the same orientation line. Positionedwith (e.g., above, over, or on top of) the sanitizer is an electronicmotion-sensing and notification adapter. The adapter can be positioned,e.g., juxtapositioned (or, alternatively, disposed close-by), above, oralternatively and/or additionally can be fully or partially positionedbeside and/or under, and/or (iii) formed integrally with, the sanitizer.The adapter can be positioned near to the sanitizer at a separation ofnil to about an inch, or six inches, or a foot, or even a slightlygreater, or double, or substantially greater (e.g., five feet). In thisdepiction, the beams B1 and B2 are either from remote locations (e.g.,at locations generally parallel to yet at the bases, e.g., originationlocations, of the arrows) or from ambient light using knownlow-intensity light sensing technology.

Power for the adapter can be derived from one or more of an existingsource of power for the sanitizer, a battery, and an indoor solar panelpositioned near, e.g., above, or integrally formed with the adapter.

Shown in the two figures are light guides for receiving/channeling beamsB1 and B2, the guides being coupled to respective light sensors andsignal converters for processing received light by the controller toaccomplish the detecting functions.

FIG. 2B is a view from the orientation line B-B′ of FIG. 1, and FIG. 2Cis a view from the C-C′ orientation line of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3Ai is a first view from the orientation line A-A′ of FIG. 1, andFIG. 3Aii is a second view from the same orientation line. Here, thedescription is similar to that above but with use by (e.g., within) theadapter of a light source, such as a laser and/or LED, being employedwith, e.g., a two-way mirror for generating beams B1 and B2 from thesingle source. (In another embodiment, separate sources may be used forthe separate B1 and B2 beams.) Detection from reflection and returnbeams therefrom can proceed using any structure described herein (e.g.,in the prior figure, or in the current figure using, e.g., multiplexingwith a single detector) or known to or as would be apparent to thoseskilled in the art in view of this disclosure. FIG. 3B is a view fromthe orientation line B-B′ of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3C is a view from the C-C′orientation line of FIG. 1.

The implementations of FIGS. 4-6 are relatively self-explanatory in viewof the above discussion, with notation being made that the adapter ispositioned nearby rather than on top of the sanitizer and that, forinstance, the upper left corner of the adapter in the view of FIG. 6Ccontains a light source with a two-way mirror being disposed to the leftthereof and another mirror being disposed further down in the view nearthe left wall of the adapter in the depiction for channeling lightultimately to and/or from the light source in connection with (e.g., toform) B2.

In typical implementations, an exemplary apparatus of the inventioncomprises a dispenser configured to be actuated to dispense one or moreof a soap and a sanitizer, one or more motion sensors to detect motionof a person entering into a patient room, and a controller to determinewhether actuation of the dispenser occurs within a predetermined timefollowing the detected motion of a person entering into the room, and,if not, to activate an alarm. The dispenser is configurable to dispensea gel, wherein the gel comprises one or more of the soap and thesanitizer. The gel is provided in a gel container which is removable,disposable, and replaceable.

The apparatus further can comprise one or more of a counterfeitprevention device for detecting whether a gel container placed into thedispenser is from a pre-authorized entity, a rejection device fordisallowing placement of the gel container into the dispenser upondetection that the gel container is not from a pre-authorized entity,and a disabling device for disabling operation of the dispenser and/orthe apparatus and/or for sounding an alarm, upon detection that the gelcontainer is not from a pre-authorized entity. The apparatus can furthercomprise a notification device for notifying a local and/or remoteentity upon a detection that the gel container is not from apre-authorized entity. Corresponding methods may be implementedaccording to this paragraph and the preceding paragraph. Any of theabove-mentioned elements and functions, alone or in any permutation orcombination, can be constructed and implemented according to techniquesknown or within the realm of access or possession of those skilled inthe art in view of the content of this disclosure.

In view of the foregoing, it will be understood by those skilled in theart that the methods of the present invention can facilitate enhancedhand-sanitizing operations. The above-described embodiments have beenprovided by way of example, and the present invention is not limited tothese examples.

Multiple variations and modification to the disclosed embodiments willoccur, to the extent not mutually exclusive, to those skilled in the artupon consideration of the foregoing description. Additionally, othercombinations, omissions, substitutions and modifications will beapparent to the skilled artisan in view of the disclosure herein.

As iterated above, any feature or combination of features described andreferenced herein are included within the scope of the present inventionprovided that the features included in any such combination are notmutually inconsistent as will be apparent from the context, thisspecification, and the knowledge of one of ordinary skill in the art.

For example, any of the components, and any particulars or featuresthereof, or other features, including method steps and techniques, maybe used with any other structure and process described or referencedherein, in whole or in part, in any combination or permutation.Accordingly, the present invention is not intended to be limited by thedisclosed embodiments, but is to be defined by reference to the appendedclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus, comprising: a dispenser configuredto be actuated to dispense one or more of a soap and a sanitizer; one ormore motion sensors to detect motion of a person entering into a patientroom; and a controller to determine whether actuation of the dispenseroccurs within a predetermined time following the detected motion of aperson entering into the room, and, if not, to activate an alarm.
 2. Theapparatus as set forth in claim 1, in which the dispenser isconfigurable to dispense a gel.
 3. The apparatus as set forth in claim2, wherein the gel comprises one or more of the soap and the sanitizer.4. The apparatus as set forth in claim 3, wherein the gel is provided ina gel container which is removable, disposable, and replaceable.
 5. Theapparatus as set forth in claim 4, further comprising a counterfeitprevention device for detecting whether a gel container placed into thedispenser is from a pre-authorized entity.
 6. The apparatus as set forthin claim 5, further comprising a rejection device for disallowingplacement of the gel container into the dispenser upon detection thatthe gel container is not from a pre-authorized entity.
 7. The apparatusas set forth in claim 5, further comprising a disabling device fordisabling operation of the dispenser upon detection that the gelcontainer is not from a pre-authorized entity.
 8. The apparatus as setforth in claim 5, further comprising a notification device for notifyinga remote entity upon a detection that the gel container is not from apre-authorized entity.
 9. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1, inwhich the one or more sensors comprises a plurality of optical motionsensors.
 10. A method, comprising: providing a dispenser configured tobe actuated to dispense one or more of a soap and a sanitizer; using oneor more motion sensors to detect motion of a person entering into apatient room; and determining with a controller whether actuation of thedispenser occurs within a predetermined time following the detectedmotion of the person entering into the room, and, if not, activating analarm.
 11. The method as set forth in claim 10, in which the one or moresensors comprises one or more optical motion sensors.
 12. The method asset forth in claim 10, in which the dispenser dispenses a gel.
 13. Themethod as set forth in claim 12, wherein the gel dispensed comprises oneor more of the soap and the sanitizer.
 14. The method as set forth inclaim 13, wherein the gel is provided in a gel container which isremovable, disposable, and replaceable.
 15. The method as set forth inclaim 14, further comprising detecting whether a gel container placedinto the dispenser is from a pre-authorized entity.
 16. The method asset forth in claim 15, further comprising disallowing operation oroperative placement of the gel container into the dispenser upondetection that the gel container is not from a pre-authorized entity.17. The method as set forth in claim 15, further comprising disablingoperation of the dispenser upon detection that the gel container is notfrom a pre-authorized entity.
 18. The method as set forth in claim 15,further comprising notifying a remote entity upon a detection that thegel container is not from a pre-authorized entity.
 19. The method as setforth in claim 10, further comprising providing one or more of arejection device and a notification device.
 20. The method as set forthin claim 19, further comprising mounting the dispenser on a wall.